§5-3-2a. Consent judgments in actions against an agency of
government; notice of proposed consent judgment.
(a) It is hereby established as the policy of this state to
consent to a proposed judgment in an action against an agency of
government or its officers or employees only after or on condition
that an opportunity is afforded persons (natural or corporate) who
are not named as parties to the action to comment on the proposed
judgment prior to its entry by the court.

(1) For the purposes of this section, "agency of government"
means:

(A) A department, division, bureau, board, commission or other
agency or instrumentality within the executive branch of state
government which may sue or be sued; or

(B) A political subdivision of this state or any board,
department, commission, district or special district, council or
other agency or instrumentality thereof whose liability or
potential liability arises from a claim which is covered by
property or liability insurance provided by the state board of risk
and insurance management of West Virginia pursuant to the
provisions of article twelve, chapter twenty-nine of this code.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "action" means a civil
proceeding initiated in a court of general jurisdiction and shall
not mean a proceeding initiated in or before, or an appeal taken
to, an administrative agency, board or commission and shall not
mean an appeal taken to a court from such an administrative
proceeding or appeal.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "judgment" means a judgment, order or decree of a court the entry of which would
require or otherwise mandate:

(A) An expansion of, increase in, or addition to the services,
duties or responsibilities of an agency of government;

(B) An increase in the expenditures of an agency of government
above the level of expenditures approved or authorized before the
entry of the proposed judgment;

(C) The employment or other hiring of, or the contracting
with, personnel or other entities by an agency of government in
addition to the personnel or other entities employed or otherwise
hired by, or contracted with or by the agency of government; or

(D) Payment of a claim based upon tort or contract by an
agency of government as defined in paragraph (B), subdivision (1)
of this subsection.

(b) To effectuate this policy, each proposed judgment which is
within the scope of paragraph (a) of this section shall be lodged
with the court as early as feasible but at least sixty days before
the judgment is entered by the court, and true copies of the
proposed order shall be served upon the attorney general of the
state, the president of the West Virginia Senate and the speaker of
the West Virginia House of Delegates. When an agency of government
proposes to consent to a judgment, it shall file with the secretary
of state, for publication in the state register, a notice of the
proposed order and include therein a request for comment on the
proposed order. The notice shall fix a date, time and place for
the receipt of written statements and documents bearing on the
appropriateness, propriety or adequacy of the proposed consent order. At the time of filing the notice of its action, the agency
of government shall also file with the secretary of state a true
copy of the proposed order. If alternative draft proposals are
being considered, the full text of the additional draft proposals
shall also be filed with the secretary of state. The agency of
government proposing to consent to the entry of judgment shall also
file with the secretary of state an estimate of the cost of
implementing the proposed judgment as the cost relates to this
state and to persons affected by the proposed judgment.

(c) Prior to entry of the judgment, or some earlier specified
date, the attorney general will receive and consider and file with
the court any written comments, views or allegations relating to
the proposed judgment.

(d) The attorney general shall reserve the right (1) to
withdraw or withhold his or her consent to the proposed judgment if
the comments, views and allegations received concerning the
proposed judgment disclose facts or considerations which indicate
that the proposed judgment is inappropriate, improper or inadequate
or (2) to support or oppose an attempt by any person to intervene
in the action. If action which could be taken by the attorney
general pursuant to the provisions of this subsection may be
materially adverse to the interests of an agency of government or
an officer or employee thereof whom the attorney general has
previously represented in the same or a substantially related
matter, the attorney general shall not proceed to act without the
written consent of the agency of government or the affected officer
or employee. In the absence of such consent, the attorney general shall provide for an independent special assistant attorney general
to be retained to consider the comments, views and allegations
received concerning the proposed judgment, and to pursue such
action as may be deemed appropriate, in accordance with the
provisions of this subsection.

(e) The attorney general may establish procedures for
implementing the policy established by this section. Where it is
clear that the public interest in the policy hereby established is
not compromised, the attorney general may permit an exception to
this policy in a specific case where extraordinary circumstances
require a period shorter than sixty days or a procedure other than
stated herein.

(f) Any agency of government which agrees to a consent
judgment after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-five, shall thereafter file an annual report, on or before
the first day of November, setting forth the status of the action,
the fiscal impact of the consent judgment upon the resources of the
state, and the manner in which any cost to the state is met or will
be met by appropriations authorized in the state budget. Such
report shall be filed with the president of the West Virginia
Senate and the speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.